Fires in Southern California

Actually, the death count is up to 14...

Shouldn't a "state of emergency" be in order? You're talking millions of dollars in property damage and homelessness.

Would cold temperatures alone do it?

Only at the state level. Bush II has not declared a Federal state of emergency yet. He's only promised "aid" and a FEMA visit so far.

OC got pounded during the 1993 fires which nearly burned me and the whole Barrus clan down. Pictures here: http://www.quartzcity.net/~chris/lagunafire/index.html

I hope that everyone out there is keeping well and out of danger.

Actually Claremont (which is on the southwestern most side of the Grand Prix fire) usually gets worse smog than LA does. The whole LA basin funnels through the San Bernadino pass, so you get wind, smog, etc. piled up there.

http://www.quartzcity.net/albums/longbeach-various/IMG_0750.sized.jpg

http://www.quartzcity.net/albums/longbeach-various/IMG_0752.sized.jpg

I'm between the left and center big plumes in the satellite photo, so the air here is fairly clear, it's like a normal sunny day with a little extra smog, but I can smell it outside all the time.

Pretty, possibly. However, when you can taste the air, shouldn't there be concern about general, eventual health effects?

Back to topic: what kind of reasoning is that? Living in SoCal doesn't mean you should expect the air quality to shorten your life by 5 or 10 years.....

Does it seem unreasonable to suspect that more of these were set on purpose? Could this many fires really start "naturally" at the same time?

I sorta do, actually, since in earlier decades it was worse enough that it would probably shorten it more by 10 to 20.

Arson is a very logical thing to suspect, trust me. Especially since there's been no storms/lightning strikes around.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Oct2003/California.TMOA2003299_lrg.jpg

I haven't lived in California for long enough to have seen other big SoCal fire events (though when I first moved here and was living in Irvine, I remember my mind boggling at the news coverage of a big fire up in L.A.; the way the reporters "bravely" stand right on the highway as the fire roars 10 feet behind them). It's just amazing to me that something like this could happen.

I sorta do, actually, since in earlier decades it was worse enough that it would probably shorten it more by 10 to 20.

So it is actually better now? With all the machinery and newer technology around, I'd think that science would have found a method to begin to clear up the air pollution as it occurs. Isn't the air quality as bad up in No Cal....or do the wind patterns have something to do with that?

So it is actually better now?

The cover of Tim Buckley's Greetings From LA, taken in 1972:

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd700/d756/d75646148p5.jpg

The wildfires in Southern California have Infinity's Country KFRG/Riverside broadcasting with a limited signal from a borrowed transmitter; OM/PD Lee Douglas tells R&R that the state of the station's own transmitter is unknown and says, "It's a miracle that we're on the air."

KATY/Temecula, CA and KCXX/Riverside GM Bill McNulty tells R&R that it's "so far, so good" for the two transmitters used by the All Pro Broadcasting stations.

Meanwhile, the tower site for KSGN Inc.'s Inspo KSGN/Riverside-San Bernardino has been destroyed, and the station is off the air indefinitely.

The news was saying last night that the Reagan library was threatened.

</immature schadenfreude>

the latest news report said oneof the fires started near LA defnitely WAS the work of arsonists!!

"Haha, oh me? I'm doing fine, aside from owing the rest of my income to the state for life."

Also, thankfully I haven't heard of any big fires in South/Central TX this year. Usually we get a few of them a year, but because we've received so much rainfall this year we've not been in any real danger yet, thankfully.

Good article in the LA Times today with interview bits from Mr. City of Quartz himself, Mike Davis:

No Way Out When Home Is in 'Firebelt'
Steve Lopez

October 28, 2003

With half of Southern California ablaze in a spectacular series of killer infernos, and no end in sight, it's only natural to
want the arsonists tracked down and tied to the nearest tree.

But arson, suspected in at least two fires, isn't the only culprit in all this death and destruction. In part, we're witnessing the
inevitable consequence of insane land management, and generations of public officials rolling over for developers despite
past lessons.

"We keep putting tens of thousands of homes in harm's way," said author Mike Davis.

The UC Irvine history professor's scorching books have assailed Southern California as an apocalyptic theme park,
always courting disaster. In "Ecology of Fear," Chapter 3 is called "The Case for Letting Malibu Burn." It's a history of
California's failure to conduct preventive burns, despite the growth of "firebelt suburb populations" on the edge of
combustible vegetation.

Homeowner groups resist preventive burns because they're risky and leave scars, but then scream for help when fire
rages out of control, Davis argues. The public cost is huge; so is the risk to firefighters.

Davis, of San Diego, watched distraught Scripps Ranch residents await firetrucks as flames approached their
multimillion-dollar homes. This was a huge base of support for smaller government, and for Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Davis said.

"Now all that stands between them and an ash pile is the car tax," which Schwarzenegger promised to cut back, even
though it helps pays for fire protection. . . .

Davis thinks this could grow into California's fire of the century, which he predicted in 1998. "The exponential growth of
housing in foothill firebelts," he wrote in "Ecology of Fear," "increases the likelihood of several simultaneous
conflagrations."

On Monday, Davis said friends had been burned out and relatives were preparing to evacuate, and it's remarkable there
hasn't been more death. He captured the horror and madness in a single sentence:

"We're building homes in places where there's no fire escape at all."

Does Davis really want to be known throughout CA history as the guy that foresaw CA's total destruction? The tone of the article almost makes him sound smug. Almost.

In terms of sheer area, 2018 has brought us the largest fire in state history (Mendocino complex), the 7th largest (Carr) and now the Camp Fire has cracked the list at the 20th spot and considering its containment level will no doubt climb at least a few spots on the list.

All this after the previous largest fire was last year's Thomas Fire.

According to a couple sources now more than 600 people remain unaccounted for. Our friend’s aunt is among them.

oh god, that's awful omar, i hope you all find her well

thanks, i'm hoping our friend will update with some miraculous report soon but idk!

i've watched a couple of those videos from people fleeing the scene. when you see the roads clogged up and the intensity of the fire, you see how inescapable it was for so many folks.

this has prompted several conversations among people we know who feel this is a sign to move up their plans to leave the state tbh. ours too! while a city like L.A. isn't affected in the same manner as a more rural, forested area like that, it just feels like a warning about the changing climate. the wildfires being so disastrous in parts of the state that see more rain historically are really a grim sign.

cali ppl: i just shipped off 30 N95s to a friend in the bay area because she said the local hardware stores are rationing them. have you also been experiencing this?

Can't speak to that because I get mine from work but it's got to the point where even when wearing a mask inside our apartment isn't enough protection. On our way to a motel 4 hours away for a couple days to wait it out in fresh air. GL to anyone sticking it out.

Camp Fire Evacuees At Makeshift Camp Given Deadline To Leave

take it with a grain of salt due to many factors but currently the number of missing is now listed at over 1,000.

Jesus Christ

1,276

Apparently there's lots of duplicates tho and media have spoken to several people who are listed.

Hopefully it will be like Grenfell where the final fatality count ended up a lot lower than the number listed as missing.

The shifting numbers indicates either a lot of duplicates and misinformation or it could be that bad. It’s maybe tough to assess, it’s possible many people are in shelters with no means of communication and friends/family who simply have zero clue where they are.

Article about it on the BBC site here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46253575

Article from the L.A. Times here on the fire is pretty harrowing:

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-camp-fire-tictoc-20181118-story.html

our friend's aunt apparently did not make it, they found remains at the home she shared with her son.

they're speculating the fire might keep going til the end of the month, though i imagine everyone is at this point well out of harm's way.

That's awful

that LA Times piece, i was holding my breath the whole way through, jesus

my heart sank reading that la times piece

I read it at lunchtime & then sat in my car & cried. Reminds me so much of the stories I heard growing up after the Ash Wednesday fires in 1984, the speed of the fire & the chaos of trying to evacuate.

Devastating.

1983, not 84.

There was a heartbreaking piece on the ABC (Australia) radio this morning. Reporter going around with a local cop who has stayed behind to search for remains.

My brother had to do similar work after the 2009 black Saturday fires here. He's involved with the Emergency Services developing map/GIS data precisely for these sort of scenarios: when a town is razed to the ground, you no longer even know where the houses were to be able to easily identify remains. They had to devleop and use overlay maps and GPS tracking linking back to address databases. I imagine the stuff they worked on will come into play here - he's worked with US officials on it before.

this was the worst wildfire in U.S. history, having occurred in Wisconsin on the same day as the Great Chicago Fire (which caused it to be overlooked.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peshtigo_Fire

the Camp Fire seems to be a similarly frightening conflagration in terms of its speed and growing size, but hopefully not as deadly in terms of life. I'm really hoping the numbers are in fact that Grenfell-type situation and are at present inaccurate.

this is beyond amazing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CbWkfCA9tc

Dang, that's Castro Peak. He doesn't post here anymore but cutty & I would ride around up there all the time. The other side of that valley is where the Rock Store is.

Happy to note that the Rock Store survived.

The trailer park across the street where people lived did not fare so well.

I used to jam with a few guys south of that area in Malibu.

We used to drive around the mountain for fun, too.

getting pretty scary over here

SoCal fires have always been scary. But there's no question about it, they are getting even scarier.

the fire is >2 miles away, but it's up on the mountain and looks like it's in my backyard at night right now

Rain is on the way, hope it hits you guys ASAP.

thanks, Albert. Was a long night of checking the evacuation map on phone alarm increments.

Stay safe, SG!

Cave fire ?

cave fire. I don't think it's taken any homes. There was a large evacuation area last night. Locals talking about the 1990 painted cave fire that hopped the 192 and 101 has me worried.

PG&E pleads guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter for 2018 Northern California fire

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/16/camp-fire-pg-e-pleads-guilty-84-counts-manslaughter-2018-blaze/3199591001/